The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

Given Stanford's recent success on the field during Pac-12, outside conference and bowl game play, it’s hard to believe that in the last decade, the Stanford football program has had only four winning seasons. In fact, each of those winning seasons has come in the last four years. How then, has Stanford reached this level of success in such a short period of time?

On a January afternoon two days after he became the first African-American head coach to win a BCS bowl game with Stanford’s 20-14 Rose Bowl Game victory over Wisconsin, David Shaw was quick to list the factors playing into Stanford’s recent rise to football dominance. To college football fans, Stanford’s formula for success may seem common: Recruiting, winning and money. However, for a school which boasts student-athlete performance in the classroom as much as it does on the gridiron, Stanford’s rise in the rankings has been anything but common.

Six short seasons ago, a new leader stepped onto Stanford Stadium's turf committed to changing the Cardinal brand of football. Jim Harbaugh recognized that in order for Stanford to win, the team would need to turn itself into a power force on the field whose physicality led its way to victories. In Harbaugh’s early years, the team would accomplish this by heavily recruiting tight ends, fullbacks and offensive linemen when many college football programs were moving towards a spread offense. Shaw, who was Harbaugh’s offensive coordinator during Harbaugh’s head coaching years at Stanford argues that Stanford’s shift to becoming a football powerhouse began when the competitive Harbaugh got hold of the coaching reins. “When Jim came, the first thing we changed is how we practice. Everything was a competition. We awakened the competitive spirit that existed here, but that had gone dormant. The team wasn’t bad; they just lost a lot of close games. Our idea was, if we got into a close game, we were going to do what we needed to do win. That attitude adjustment helped start the process.”

Harbaugh’s ability to get Stanford players to buy into his style of play led to one thing: Winning. When it comes to college football, perhaps nothing jump-starts a program better than winning. “What has also helped, is winning. Winning games on a national stage gets you attention. Winning the Orange Bowl a few years ago was really big for our recruiting in the southeast; everyone in the southeast watches the Orange Bowl. Seeing Stanford play physical football in the Orange Bowl made a lot of difference for our recruiting down there,” Shaw said.

Winning games and benefiting from national broadcasts of its physical style of play has allowed Stanford to lure top recruits to its campus since 2007. “We always recruited nationally, but I think we’ve made a big push in the last few years to really explore areas more. We’ve gotten a lot of players out of Georgia, Texas and the Washington, D.C. and Virginia areas,” Shaw explained. One such player that Stanford snatched away from his home state was quarterback Andrew Luck, who played high school football in Houston, TX. Shaw describes Stanford’s recruiting of Luck as “huge” and notes that Luck’s presence helped Stanford build national recognition. “The fact that he was on television all of the time and was up for the Heisman Trophy and other awards, yet always turned the attention back to Stanford, was a big reason why we got more and more national attention.”

Luck’s presence at Stanford not only drew national attention to the school, but also helped galvanize the Cardinal fan base. “What Andrew signified was so special, because he came back to school and put the NFL off for a year, even though he was going to be a first-round NFL draft pick. He took it seriously to be a student and a college kid who enjoyed being a college kid. That helped galvanize people. What he stood for, is something we’d like all Sanford student-athletes to stand for,” Shaw said. Stanford fans have clearly been motivated recently to support their team, as cash donations to the athletic program have increased 53.4 percent and new gifts and pledges have increased by 215.1 percent in the last five years.

As Shaw noted, with the attraction of the NFL draft and big dollars awaiting him in 2011, Luck instead returned to Stanford to complete a degree in architecture. This action by Luck demonstrates the one tool Shaw has in his back pocket to lure top recruits: The promise of an education that opens doors most other schools cannot. With Stanford’s rise in football prominence, many have wondered if the program has become more lax in its admissions standards. Shaw adamantly denies this. “We have the same academic standards. What we’re doing, though, is a really good job of finding those kids who fit here academically and are going to graduate. We don’t have easy majors at Stanford. Kids are going to come here, get a meaningful degree and work hard to achieve that degree. You come here to achieve; you don’t just want to get through Stanford. You want to get a degree in something you want to study and make as many contacts as you can while playing great football,” Shaw said. Shaw notes that the coaching staff’s ability to reach recruits early in the recruiting process has been critical to the team’s success in recent years. “Our junior days are huge for us to get guys the information they need about AP classes, finishing with their graduating class and having high enough SAT scores to come to Stanford.”

Successful recruiting campaigns are necessary for college football programs to win. So too, is money. Perhaps the one most undocumented force behind Stanford’s recent emergence as football powerhouse is money. The shift in Stanford’s financial plan for its football program began under former athletic director Bob Bowlsby. Since 2006—the year before Bowlsby was named athletic director and Harbaugh was named head coach—Stanford football increased its recruiting spending by 63 percent. Over the last five years, its recruiting spending has increased by 25.2 percent, demonstrating the athletic department’s continued commitment to the football program’s success. “I give a lot of credit to Bowlsby for increasing our budget as far as recruiting goes. We needed to be a national recruiter. Now, we go from coast-to-coast, and at any given time, we have seven coaches in seven different states. Sometimes, the next day, those guys will be in seven different states,” Shaw noted.

Stanford has also increased its funding for coaches. “For years, there would be two to three coaches who left each year because of the cost of living in northern California and Stanford not paying to scale. Now, the school is paying closer to scale and also gives coaches on-campus living. Most of our coaches don’t drive to work, but rather ride their bike to practice,” Shaw said. The university is also shelling out a significant amount of money to upgrade its football and other athletic facilities. Currently underway is a 27,000-square-foot expansion to the Arrillaga Family Sports Center, which amongst other things, includes an expansion to the football weight room and creation of a football players’ lounge and new coaching offices.

As many programs and fans can attest to, not much is certain in college football. However, in viewing Stanford football’s last four seasons, several things are clear: the team will continue graduating student-athletes while winning, fans will keep giving money to the program and David Shaw is turning Stanford into one of the most prestigious places to coach college football.